Recovery
by Sango Hikari
Summary: Hinata is recovering from her fight with Neji in the Chuunin Exam. What happens when Naruto comes to visit? A little NaruHina fluff.


Wow, my first fic that's not of Bleach. Surprising, huh? Anyway, this is just a short Naruto and Hinata story. It takes place right after Hinata's battle with Neji. We never really saw her until after all the battles were done, and by then, everyone, including Naruto, had pretty much forgotten about it. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with that. So here's a little fluff between them during her recovery. Enjoy!

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Hinata lay in her bed, covered with a white blanket. She stared blankly at the ceiling, reflecting the outcome of her battle with Neji. In a way, she felt bad for her relative, seeing how hard things were for those born to the Branch family. And he was so much stronger than her…it was he, not her, who deserved to be in the Main family. So why is it that she was lucky enough to be in the Main family and not him?

There was one thing, though, that she felt no sympathy towards. Yes, Neji may have been in the Branch Family of the Hyuuga clan, but the fact that he just chose to accept his fate without even trying to change it…that she couldn't understand. If things were so horrible for him, why did he just step aside without even the slightest protest? He was so caught up in the fact that he felt destiny couldn't be changed that he didn't even try anymore. She had no doubt that, if he were seriously hurt in battle, he would just roll over and accept his fate without even trying to fight back. How could you think that life was just planned out from the moment you were born, and that nothing you did could change that?

Ever since her battle, she had wondered this. Were her attempts to change herself really pointless? Was she destined to be the shy, quiet girl that couldn't express her feelings? Was she doomed to be a failure? Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to believe this. When she came close, she remembered Naruto's shouts during the match, and how he had been encouraging her. Yes, instead of her always watching him, it had been the other way around; he had been cheering for her, watching her…that alone was enough for her to think that maybe, just maybe, her efforts hadn't gone to waste.

She was in the middle of one of her ponderings when she heard the door to her room slowly creak open. She sat up in her bed, expecting one of the nurses, coming to check up on her. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who it really was.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she squeaked out, her voice barely a whisper.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto walked into the room, his usual grin plastered on his face. "Just thought I'd come to check up on you!" As he came closer to her bed, Hinata felt her face heat up as it turned red. _Am I dreaming?_ She wondered. _Is Naruto-kun really here?_

"Ah, Hinata, you ok? Your face is all red." Naruto had reached the bedside now; he reached over and placed a hand on her forehead. "You don't have a fever, do you? The doctors said you were all right now, but maybe not…"

"I-I'm fine, Naruto-kun! Really!" Hinata could feel her face turn a shade deeper at his touch. She was relieved when he removed her hand from her forehead.

"If you say so…" Naruto wasn't all that convinced, but then again, Hinata _was_ a strange girl. "Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you on your battle."

"B-But Naruto-kun, I lost…" Hinata's voice trailed off, her gaze shifting to the glistening whiteness of the sheets on her bed.

"I'm not talking about that," Naruto said, smiling at her. "I mean the battle with yourself." Hinata looked back up at him, their eyes meeting. "That was really brave of you."

"D-Do you really think so?" Hinata asked, her blush, which had dulled to a bright pink, creeping back up on her face. "Do you think…maybe I managed to change…just a little bit?"

"Of course!" Naruto said, his giant grin returning to his face. "After all, you didn't give up, did you? You kept fighting. Everyone was really impressed!" He turned to leave. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that. Get well soon, Hinata!" With that, he left.

His words repeated inside her head. _Everyone was really impressed…Oh, Naruto-kun, as long as I impressed you, I don't care about what everyone else thought. For you, Naruto-kun, I'll never give up on anything, ever again._

**Author's notes:**

I seem to have a hard time on how people should address each other. I'm pretty sure, after watching most of the anime (I'm still in the middle of downloading it), that Naruto would just call Hinata by her first name, since I've never seen him attach –chan or anything else to her name. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Ok, so that was really short, but I thought it was sweet. Please review so I know if I should continue to write more Naruto fics or just stick to Bleach. Thanks for reading! 


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